Landmark Tower, Seoul, South Korea

620m tower for Seoul

Designs released for Landmark Tower in Yongsan International Business District

Dream is creeping ever closer to reality in Seoul as architects and engineers continue to develop their extravagant concepts for the Yongsan International Business District, a 3.4million sq m scheme for development consortium Dreamhub Project Financial Investment Co.

The new business district will boast twenty ‘iconic’ buildings in its centre, anchored by a towering 620m spire by Renzo Piano Building Workshop entitled the Landmark Tower. The glittering beacon starts life with a 76m diameter footprint and rises to a tiny 22m-wide splinter at the apex, high in the clouds. If the building was completed today it would be the second tallest structure in the world after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and its height has meant some complex design features.

Two pairs of twin tubes rise up through the form, spiralling in opposite directions to strengthen the building against strong winds and potential seismic shudders. This external double-helix bracing will act as strengthening latticework and create a recognisable aesthetic for the Landmark Tower.

Arup is working on eight of the twenty main towers in the Yongsan International Business District, providing advice on everything from acoustics to electrics and façade engineering to sustainability. Alistair Guthrie, Director at Arup, explains: “The Dreamhub Consortium has huge ambitions for this development at the heart of Seoul and this is very much reflected in the scale and stature of the buildings we are working on at Arup.

“We’ve been supporting the client on this project for some time now and it is very exciting to see it come to fruition on the Landmark Tower and the other truly amazing designs.” Arup designed the original masterplan for the project with Studio Daniel Libeskind.

Other designs for the immense scheme include Bjarke Ingels Group’s CROSS # TOWERS, the REX-designed residential Project 6, and Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill’s Dancing Dragons. The projects now enter the design development stage and preliminary work has already begun onsite near the Han River.